Grinding machine steady rest



Feb. 24, 1948.

GBINDING` MACHINE STEADY REST Filed April e, 194e 2 Sheets-Sheet l A v. J. MARSHALL 21,436,587

Feb. 24, 1948. v V, J, MARSHALL 2,436,587 v.

GBINDING MACHINE STEADY RESTy Filed April 6, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 e3 :I y VtkkoJ MarshaLL Patented Feb. 24, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT oeslcs 2,436,587 GRINDING MACHINE STEADY REST Veikko J. Marshall, Worcester, Mass., assignor to Norton Company, Wo

tion of Massachusetts Application April 6, 1946, Serial No. 660,141

. 6 Claims.

This invention relates to grinding machines and more particularly to a steadyrest for supporting and steadying a workpiece during the grinding operation.

simple in operation and adjustment. Another object of the invention is to provide a steadyrest with a work steadying shoe which may be rapidly withdrawn to an inoperative position.

A further object of the invention is to provide ya fluid pressure mechanism for moving the steadyp be indicated in the following claims.

enlarged scale, showing the shoe locking detent and the actuating mechanism therefor; and

Fig. is a fragmentary sectional view taken aprcester, Mass., a corpora- 2 proximately on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 showing the locking detent for the steady rest shoe.

A grinding machine has been illustrated in the drawings comprising a base IIJ having a longitudi'71 ally movabley work table Il YY1ountrd thereon. The work table II is provided with work heads (not shown) rotatable to support a workpiece I2. A rotatable grinding wheel I3 is supported yon a transversely movable wheel lslide (not shown) which is arranged to move transversely relative to the base I0 to feed the grinding wheel into the workpiece I2 to grind the same to the desired and predetermined size.

The improved steadyrest comprises a frame I5 which is secured to the front of the machine base Il) by means of a plurality of cap screws I4,

A slidably mounted steadyrest shoe support I6 is slidably mounted within a rectangularly shaped aperture Il in the frame I5. The slide I6 is provided at its forward end with a work steadying shoe I8 which is arranged to engage and steady the workpiece I2 during a grinding operation.

In order to maintain the shoe I8 in operative engagement with the workpiece I2 as it is re-' duced in size during grinding, a suitable nut and which engages a T-shaped slot 23 formed in the steadyrest shoe slide I6. The other end of the screw I9 is provided with an actuating knob 24 by means of which the screw I9 may be adjusted so as to adjust the position of the shoe slide I6 relative to the sliding block pressure mechanism is provided for actuating the detent 25 and also for moving the steadyrest shoe I8 to and from an mounted withtrol valve into the reverse within the cylinder 30 and is fixedly connected to the lower end of a piston rod 32. A collar 33 is pinned to the upper end of the piston rod 32.

In order to move the steadyrest shoe to and from an .operative position a suitable lever mechanism is provided comprising a bell crank lever 35 which is pivotally mounted on a stud 35. An upwardly extending arm 31 of the bell crank lever 35 is provided with a yoked end portion carrying a stud 38 which rides in an elongated slot 39 formed in a block 40 which is xedly mounted on the underside of the slide block 2l. The other arm di of the bell crank leverl 35 i's and is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed rollers l2 and i3 which engage clearance slots i3 and d5 respectively formed in the collar 33. It will be readily apparent from the foregoing disclosure that movement of the collar '33 first takes up the lost motion between the rollers 122 and 43 and the slots i4 and 45 before transmittinga rocking motion to the bell -crank lever 35 so as to delay movement of the work steadying shoe l5 until the detent 25 may be withdrawn in a manner to be hereinafter described.

kA suitable control valve is provided for controlling the admission to and exhaust of fluid from the cylinder 35. This valve is preferably Va piston type valve comprising a valve stem 41 having valve pistons 18, 39, 5i), and 5l formed integrally therewith. When fluid under pressure is passed through a pipe 52 it enters a valve chamber 53 located between the valve pistons 49 and Si) and passes through a passage 54 into acylinder chamber 55 to move the piston 3| upwardly to move the steadyrest shoe i8 into an operative position. During this movement, iluid within the cylinder chamber 55a above the piston 3l may exhaust through the passage 56, through a valve chamber 51 located between the valve piston is and i9 and passes out through a passage 58 and an exhaust pipe 53. The valve stem 41 as illustrated in Fig. 3 is maintained in this position by means of a spring pressed'ball 55 which engages a V-groove 6| formed in the valve stem 61. A similar V-groove 52 is provided on the valve stem d1 to locate the valve stem when the valve is shifted into its lreverse position.

A manually operable control lever 65 is pivotally mounted on a stud B6 which is carried by the steadyrest frame i5. The control lever 55 is connected to actuate a rock arm 61. The other end of the rock arm 51 is yoke shaped and is provided with an elongated slot which engages a stud 33 carried by the valve stem 41. It will be readily apparent from the foregoing disclosure that when the control lever 55 is rocked in a counter-clockwise direction (Fig. l) the valve stem 31 will be moved upwardly to shift `the conposition. When the valve stem is moved into the reverse position fluid under pressure passing through the pipe 52 into valve chamber 53 will pass through the passage 55 into the cylinder chamber 55a to cause a downward movement to the piston 3 l During the downward movement of the piston 3l, the

vsleeve 3 is moved downwardly until the rollers 42 and i3 engage the upper end surface of the slots i5v and i5 before transmitting a rocking motion to the bell crank lever 35. This delayed actioniof the bell crank lever serving to facilitate withdrawing of the locking detent 25 in a manner to be hereinafter described.

The sleeve 33 is provided with an upwardly extending portion 15. The detent 25 Vis'provided Mmmm-mv extending rod 'Il which is yoked-shaped slidably mounted within the upper end portion 10 of the sleeve 33. The rod 1l is provided with a stud 12 which extends through elongated slots 13 and 14 formed in the portion 1B of the sleeve 35. These elongated slots 13 and 14 serve to provide a lost motion connection between the sleeve V33 and the locking detent 25. A compression spring 15 surrounds thev rod 1l and is located between a shoulder 15 formed in the extension 13 of the sleeve 33 and a flange 11 formed integral with the rod 1|. It will be readily apparent from the foregoing disclosure that the compression of the spring 15 normally holds the detent 25 in Vlocked engagement with the slide block 2l.

When it is desired to withdraw the work steadying shoe to an inoperative position the valve stem l1 is shifted upwardly in a manner previously described so as to move the piston 3l downwardly. During the initial downward movement of the piston 3l, the pin v12 engages the upper end of the elongated slots 13 and 14 and the downward movement of the vpiston rod 32 will move the collar 33 together with the rod 1l and detent 25 downwardly to unlock the slide block 2 i When the downward movement of the sleeve 33 moves downwardly so that the upper ends of the elongated slots lill and i5 engage the rollers i12 and d3 respectively, thebeil crank lever 35 will be rocked in a counter-clockwise direction to slide the bloek 2l and the shoe slide I6 and the work shoe l5 toward the left to an inoperative position. It will be readily apparent from the foreging disclosure that the detent 25 isfirst automatically withdrawn after which the shoe is automatically and positively withdrawn to an inoperative position.

Similarly when the piston 3i is moved upwardly the sleeve 33 iirst rocks the bell crank lever 35 in a counter-clockwise direction to move the slide block "2l, the slide l5 and steadyrest shoe i8 toward'the right into an operative position after which the released compression of the spring 15 engages the locking detent 25 with the apertureA formed in` the'slide block 2l to lock the parts in an operating position.

The operation of this improved steadyrest will be readily apparent from the foreging disclosure. A workpiece i2 ispositioned'in themachine in a supporting engagement with the work heads. The control lever 55 is rocked in a clockwise direction into the positionillustr'ated in Fig. 1 to lshiftth'evalve stem'lll upwardly; This movement of the valve stem 51 causes'the piston 3l to move upwardly and thereby to rock the bell crank lever 33 in 'a clockwise direction to shift the slide block 2i', the'shoe slide 4l5 and steadyrest shoe` i3 toward the right Vinto'the position illustrated in Fig. l. When the parts are in an operative position, thedetent 25 actuated by the compression of the 'spring Y15 locks the slide block '2i in an oper tive position. As the grinding operation proceeds, the 'work steadying shoe engagement with the workpiece l2 by manipulation lof the knob 24. lIhe knob v2li serving through a screw -19 to adjust the shoe slide i6 andwork shoe I8 relative `to the slide Ablock 2l thus vmaintaining the steadyrest shoe .13 in'steadying and supporting engagement with the Vworkpie-ice `i12. After a workpiece has been ground to the desired and predetermined size, the control -lever G5 is rocked in a counter-clockwise'direction (Fig. l) so as to shift the valvestem 41 upwardly-and thereby to admit ud to cause a downward movement of the piston 3l and piston rod 32. This movement as above described serves to rst withdraw the locking detent 25 after which the bell crank lever 35 is rocked in a counter-clockwise direction to Withdraw the Work steadying shoe I8 to an inoperative position to facilitate indexing of the workpiece i2 or to facilitate loading a new piece of work into the machine.

It will thus be seen that there has been provided by this invention apparatus in which the various objects hereinabove set forth together with many thoroughly practical advantages are successfully achieved. As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention and as many changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that al1 matter hereinbefore set forth, or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A grinding machine steadyrest ,having a frame, a movable slide on said frame, a slidably mounted work steadying shoe on said frame, manually operable means to facilitate adjusting said shoe relative to said slide to maintain the shoe in operative engagement with a workpiece 'during a grinding operation, a locking device to lock said slide in an operative position, and a power operated mechanism operatively connected to control the actuation of both the locking device and the slide in either direction, said mechanism being arranged to actuate the locking device to unlock said slide and thereafter positively to move the slide and shoe to an inoperative position.

2. In a grinding machine steadyrest having a frame, a movable slide on said frame, a slidably mounted steadyrest shoe on said frame, manually operable means to facilitate adjusting said shoe relative to said slide to maintain the shoe in operative engagement with a work piece during a grinding operation, a locking device to lock said slide in an operative position, a power operated mechanism operatively connected positively to move said slide to an operative position, and connections between said mechanism and said locking device automatically to release said locking device so as to lock said slide and shoe in an operative position. i

3. A grinding machine steadyrest having a frame, a movable slide on said frame, a slidably mounted work steadying shoe on said frame, manually operable means to facilitate adjusting said shoe relative to the slide to maintain the shoe in operative engagement with a workpiece during a grinding operation, a, locking device to lock said slide in an operative position, a power operated mechanism operatively connected to actuate both the locking device and the slide, lost motion connections between said latter mechanism and the locking device to unlock said locking device and lost motion connections between said latter means and said slide to move the slide and shoe to and from an inoperative position.

4. A grinding machine steadyrest having a frame, a movable slide on said frame, a slidably mounted work steadying shoe on said frame, a manually operable nut and screw to facilitate adjusting said shoe relative to said slide to maintain the shoe in operative engagement with a workpiece during a grinding operation, a spring pressed detent normally to lock said slide in an operative position, and means including a piston and cylinder operatively connected to actuate both the detent and slide, said connections being arranged to move the detent to an inoperative position and thereafter to move the slide and shoe to an inoperative position.

5. A steadyrest for grinding machines comprising a frame, a movable slide on said frame, a work steadying shoe slidably mounted on said frame, means including a spring pressed detent to locate and hold said slide and shoe in an operative position, a nut and screw mechanism to feed said slide relative to said frame so as to maintain the shoe in operative engagement with a workpiece during grinding, a bell crank lever operatively connected to move said slide to and from an operative position, a fluid pressure piston and cylinder operatively connected to actuate said bell crank lever, a manually operable control valve to control the admission to and exhaust of duid from said cylinder, and operative connections between said bell crank lever and said detent to rst Withdraw said detent after which said bell crank lever is rocked to move said slide and shoe to an inoperative position.

6. A grinding machine steadyrest having a frame, a, movable slide on said frame, a Work steadying shoe slidably mounted on said frame, a locking device to lock said slide in an operative position relative to said frame, a nut and screw mechanism to feed said'shoe relative to said slide to maintain the shoe in operative engagement with a workpiece during grinding,- means including a lever to actuate said slide and shoe, a iiuid pressure piston and cylinder to actuate said locking device and said lever, lost motion connections between said piston and said locking device, and lost motion connections between said piston and said lever, said lost motion connections being arranged so that movement of said piston serves first to actuate said locking device to unlock said slide and thereafter to move said slide and shoe to an inoperative position.

VEIKKO J. MARSHALL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,163,041 Shearer Dec 7, 1915 2,078,556 Belden Apr. 27, 1937 2,261,903 La Fleur Nov. 4, 1941 

